 John Warrack has commented on Holst's use of bitonality at the opening of the opera, representing the distinct yet subtly connected realms of Sāvitri and Death.Donald Mitchell, in his highly critical comments on the opera, noted the influence of Richard Wagner in the vocal style, even as Holst had nominally renounced the epic scale of Wagner's operas in terms of size of musical forces.Byron Adams has described the opera's characters as more "archetypes" than people.